TRUST: How Not to Perpetuate the Status Quo! June 12, 2023

I wrote the attached essay before Chief Asiwaju picked Governor Shettima as his Presidential Running Mate. Governor Kashim Shettima was exemplary in selecting a successor who, though an erudite scholar and a distinguished professor, lived a Talakawa lifestyle throughout his appointment as a commissioner in the administration of Governor Shettima.

I wrote about it and commended the Governor and his succession strategy, even though the dominant narrative at the time was that he was a Boko Haram sympathizer. I focused on purposeful leadership and did not equivocate to celebrating his decision and foresight, knowing the unedifying records of most Governors, when selecting a successor. And I had nothing to gain when I wrote it.

For emphasis, I published the essay on June 12, 2022. And on July 10, 2022, it was reported that Chief Asiwaju had picked Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State as his running mate. In other words, I discovered Kashim first before Chief Asiwaju and his search team.

Also, when I wrote and supported the removal of petroleum subsidies in 2012 on my Blog and SaharaReporters, dubbing it a scam, it was as if doing so or holding such an opinion was a sacrilege. Where are we today?

So, who deserves to be TRUSTED? The guy, who is deliberately DUMB and unwilling to take a stand on national issues to perpetuate an image of a "good boy" of the establishment, or someone who, guided by innate wisdom and training through the years, fearlessly and stridently articulated policy statements on how to move Nigeria forward - policy statements that have, most often, become the national standard? Who? The choice is yours. We got work to do; Nigeria is worth saving.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

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Alex Ehi Aidaghese

 

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Nigerian Electoral Process: Of Candidacy and the Perpetuation of Status Quo.

Introduction!

There are three candidates in the Nigerian electoral process.

(1) Those who have made stupendous wealth from the government or the private sector and don't know what to do with the money.

Once elected, they are content with Constituency Projects. They have little or no knowledge of what government or leadership is about, or the craftsmanship involved in the legislative process. And most often, they are at a loss on how to use the office to benefit the electorates.

(2) Those who are invited into the electoral process and fully funded by political angel investors, popularly called godfathers.

Here, loyalty is strictly defined. It is first to the boss, and the people, later. You have heard of newly installed "Honorables," telling people in their constituencies that they paid money to acquire the title. In other words, they would have to service the investments of the godfather first before taking action, if at all, on any community project.

And (3) Those who made enormous sacrifices to train and prepare themselves for the act of leadership and governance.

The candidates in this category find it difficult to get elected and, most often, ignored, when they dare to venture into the electoral process. They are not only ignored by the elite and the money bags, but also by once-trusted friends and the same people they want to liberate. Simply put, they have no money to throw around.

Nigeria is what it is today because candidates within numbers one and two brackets dominate the political scene and leadership structures. And their surrogates dominate MDAs, thanks to cronyism. And when beds of the same feathers flock together, a pattern developed, maintained, and changed becomes an expendable luxury.

Audacity and Selflessness vs Greed and Timidity.

It takes audacity for Governor Kashim Shettima to identify with Professor Babagana Umara Zulum and appoint him a commissioner. He identified with him, not for what he (Kashima) wants to benefit from by sponsoring Prof Zulum to succeed him as a Governor, but influenced by what the people and the leadership structures in Borno State stand to benefit from Prof Zulum as their Governor. And that's an uncommon feature of Nigerian succession culture.

Today, more than 60 years later, we are still celebrating the educational marvel of the Action Group Party in the old Western Region of Nigeria under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Most Nigerians didn't know that the man who later became the cerebral scholar, Professor Aluko, who presided over the educational breakthrough for Papa Awo, was initially a fierce critic of Papa Awo's educational policy when he was a student in London, England. And together with Oluwole Awokoya, they injected refined energy into Papa Awo's educational program.

Can you name one Southern political leader today who will gladly go to America, Europe, our university campuses, or the public place to seek the support of his educated and well-informed critics to become a part of his administration? Hardly.

For instance, despite his enormous courage, authenticity, and words of wisdom in the educational sector, there was no Nigerian President or Governor who considered it appropriate to appoint Professor Festus Iyayi of Uniben (now late) as an Adviser, Minister, or Commissioner of education? Not even President Jonathan who was a contemporary of Professor Iyayi as a University lecturer, gave it a thought.

Analysis.

According to a popular saying, it takes enlightenment to know the enlightened. Though that may be true, it doesn't suffice in the modern Southern Nigerian political chess game. When enlightened folks are fortunate to be appointed or elected to public office, they become integrated into the culture and idiosyncrasies of the once-old oppressors.

In Nigeria, identifying with fellow Alutas and intellectuals, and incorporating them into the political system for the mutual benefit of the people is an aberration. Except, of course, when they have an immediate benefit to reap from such appointment, recommendation, or a coverup to effect.

Name one Nigerian, especially in the South of late, who has assisted or recommended his like-minded intellectuals for a position in the same administration he serves. None that I know of. Once they are there, they become more Roman than the Romans. And bourgeois etiquette becomes the new normal, engaging in the same abominable nepotism they stridently condemned when they were outside of the political system.

In the Northern Region, the reverse is the case. Northern mavericks recommend each other for elective positions or appointments at both federal and state levels. It mustn't always be about bloodline.

Do you know that the once radical leftist Dr. Attahiru Jega of the University Sokoto of the 80s and 90s who took over the leadership of ASUU from now late Professor Festus Iyayi of Uniben, is the same Professor Jega who later became INEC Chairman under President Jonathan?

President Jonathan had no idea who Professor Jega was or is. In the same way, he couldn't reckon with Prof Iyayi's profile. But someone or some interest groups somewhere did pick and recommend Prof Jega as INEC Chairman for President Jonathan. That was it; when push comes to shove or when the stage is high the Northerners know how to go for the best they have.

But not the same for poor Festus when he was alive. He was too upright and too radical to be recommended or used in any government, whether as a Minister, Adviser, or Head of an Agency or Department. What about Olisa Agbakoba, late Gani Fawehimin (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), or late Prof Awojobi? It is the same story. And that's the Southern dilemma, which is a national tragedy - greed and timidity.

In summary, when audacity and selflessness are missing in the leadership, cronyism and a culture of low expectations become the accepted norms. So long as candidates in categories one and two dominate the leadership structure, change mechanisms become stagnant, if not elusive.

Consequently, the pool of candidates or potential candidates within category three begins to atrophy. That defines the perpetuation of the status quo in Nigerian politics and leadership struggle - the perpetuation of a culture of low expectations in Nigeria public service.

So, no matter the volume of moving forward policy papers developed, radical reforms will remain a flighty purpose, and the calls for Restructuring will remain meaningless, because those in the position to engineer the change are happy and comfortable with the status quo. In a similar vein, the demands for True Federalism and Decentralization of Power will remain mere slogans to be pursued and never attained. To them, all is well with the system.

Friends, and family members, please, swallow your greed. Swallow your pride. Be selfless. Be audacious. And be smart. Take a stand for what is right. And STAND by those candidates whose opinions you have known and identified with over the years. And that's the way the real change can take effect in Nigeria.

If a candidate has no opinion on any national issue (Security, Restructuring, Education, or Corruption), trust me, he will have no opinion when you elect him to represent you. Please, take that from me, not because I want your votes or endorsement, or because I have expressed myself eloquently over the years on the identified issues, but because I want you to do the right thing and help move Nigeria forward.

Thank you and God Bless. Happy Sunday.

Barr Alex Ehimhantie Aidaghese is from Okaigben-Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Areas. He is the Accord Party Senatorial Candidate for Edo Central Senatorial District.

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